That apparently was the situation for British actors Lena Headey and Jerome Flynn, who went through a nasty breakup sometime before or after they were both cast in the HBO series “Game of Thrones,” The Sun reported.

In case you’ve been locked in an underground vault since 2011, Headey, 45, played ruthless Queen Cersei Lannister on the fantasy series; Flynn, 56, played Bronn, a mercenary swordsman.

Even before Headey became a global superstar on the monster hit series, she apparently had enough clout to ask producers to make sure that storylines would be planned so that she and Flynn would never film scenes together, according to The Sun.

While it appears that Headey wanted to avoid Flynn, it is not clear that the feeling was mutual. But the animosity made things awkward on the set, according to The Sun and other publications.

“They kept the full extent of it secret but it was a very turbulent relationship and it has been very awkward on set,” a source told The Sun. “Lena has opened up to her trusted friends. She appears to have a genuine hate towards him.”

A “Game of Thrones” crew member told The Telegraph in 2014: “Jerome and Lena aren’t on speaking terms any more and they are never in the same room at the same time. It’s a pity because they appeared to have patched things up for a while, but now the word is they should be kept apart at all costs.”

In terms of keeping the actors separated, things could have become complicated story-wise when Bronn began working as the bodyguard for Cersei’s brother Tyrion at the end of Season 1. There were plenty of opportunities for their characters to interact, especially after Bronn became a hero defending House Lannister’s rule over the Seven Kingdoms during the Battle of the Blackwater at the end of Season 2.

But their characters managed to avoid each other up until the final, eighth season — even when Cersei devised a special assignment for Bronn to murder Tyrion and her other brother, Jaime.

But for the episode that aired April 14, the writers didn’t have Cersei make the assignment herself. Instead, they had Qyburn, the queen’s creepy chief of staff (or “hand” in “GoT”-speak), track down Bronn during one of his brothel breaks and offer him chests full of gold to commit the murders.

Headey ultimately avoided interaction with Flynn in the most final way possible — her character was killed off.

Cersei died in the the penultimate episode of Season 8, which aired May 12. Cersei and her twin brother/love Jaime were crushed beneath her castle, the Red Keep, when it was damaged by dragon fire.

Cersei’s death meant she wouldn’t wouldn’t have to deal with Bronn — and Headey presumably wouldn’t have to deal with Flynn — before the series ended Sunday night. One of the final scenes of the series finale has Bronn taking his place at one of the small council meetings that the late Queen Cersei used to preside over.

The timeline of Headey and Flynn’s relationship is murky, according to The Cut. The Sun reported that the two first appeared together in a British TV series in 1993 and became romantically linked in 2002. Flynn denied it at the time, saying in 2003: “We’re not a couple right now, people have seen us together and jumped to conclusions. I can’t rule out a relationship with her.”

While Page Six suggested that the relationship was over by the time “Game of Thrones” began airing in 2011, The Sun said the affair didn’t end until 2014. Headey called things off, leading to their on-set tension, The Sun added.

Throughout some of this time period, Headey was married to musician Peter Loughran from 2007 to 2011, when they separated. They had a son together, who is now 9, and divorced in 2012. Headey gave birth a daughter in 2015. Her father is director Dan Caban, whom Headey married in 2018.

Martha Ross is a features writer who covers everything and anything related to popular culture, society, health, women’s issues and families. A native of the East Bay and a graduate of Northwestern University and Mills College, she’s also a former hard-news and investigative reporter, covering crime and local politics.

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